Christmas is Saved!

It’s 5 years later, and we’re back with the three Brenner boys. On the surface, everything seems fine. Luke is married to Thomas’s mother Sophie and being a Dad. Thomas was the baby in Three Wise Men and a Baby who was foisted on the three brothers by a complete stranger to temporarily take care of. Which they did, and by doing so managed to heal a breach that had developed between them, learned to appreciate how great their mother was, and grew up a good bit themselves. Thomas’s mother, I’m happy to report, is now gainfully employed and being a success at her job. She is going to some kind of work conference and Luke is going to be taking care of Thomas on his own while she is away. Stephan, former pet psychologist, has now written a self help book for humans about conquering his own crippling anxiety. He is still seeing Susie, whom he got together with at the end of the previous movie. When we first see Taylor, he is pitching the new video game he has created to an investor on a video call in what appears to be an office in his own company.

But all is not what it seems. To make a long story short they still have a lot of work to do on themselves. Especially Stephan and Taylor. Luke, who has been promoted to Fire Chief,  still pretty much has it all together although he is as tightly wound as ever. He has dropped some balls at work and at home but that’s parenthood for you, right? The corporate representative that Taylor is pitching his game to wants to buy the game for a large amount of money, not invest in it. Taylor refuses his offer because he views it as selling out. After the call, we see that Taylor is using a coffee shop as a front for an office and he and his props are kicked out. He goes home to his apartment and is met with an eviction notice for not paying his rent. Stephan has been neglecting Susie in favor of promoting his aforementioned book and their relationship is showing some cracks. As does his new calm and collected facade. Susie wants to get married like a grownup and Stephan is oblivious. Taylor, due to his being homeless, suggests that all three of them move back in with Mom as a Christmas treat for her and so they all can take care of Thomas while his mother is away. Of course we know that many challenges are on their way and by the end they will result in “the boys” getting back on the right track once again.

Since they have the parent and uncle thing pretty much nailed now, the challenges come in the form of Mom’s new boyfriend and them taking charge of Thomas’s school Christmas pageant. While visiting a rehearsal, they had accidentally destroyed all of the sets and props and served the children “poison” cookies so half of the kids quit, along with the director. Mom’s new boyfriend, who is a pastor and pretty much the perfect man and in all ways worthy of their wonderful mother, is very much resented by the boys and is not exactly welcomed with open arms into their Mom’s life. Taking charge of the pageant does not go well as all of the kids who had any talent are gone, and the boys think the whole thing has to be rewritten. They are determined not to let this pageant be a disaster that will scar the kids’ lives forever, but true to form, they screw it up even worse by calling in “the big guns,” Mark LeClark,  the Christmas decorating champion from the previous movie. He is all about Christmas glitz, giant inflatables, smoke machines, and disco lights. In short, everything not in line with the true spirit of Christmas. After the set burns down thanks to a blowtorch and an overloaded circuit board (way to go there Mr. Fire Chief-maybe not so together after all), they finally listen to the advice that all the adults in the room have been trying to tell them and go back to the original simple plan. The pageant is a success and, to borrow a line from the show, “Christmas is Saved!” The play is called “The Grump Who Ruined Christmas” to avoid copyright infringement which was a humorous touch.

Besides this basic plot, there was a lot more going on in this movie, including Taylor finding  romance with one of the volunteers. She is described as female version of himself including a predilection for constantly sucking on a candy cane. Only she is a much better more mature version of him and he learns a lot from her. The character and the actress were real bright spots, and it was an very clever idea for the love interest. She was funny and my favorite character even though she replaced Ali Leibert as Taylor’s girlfriend. There are a lot of pep talks in this. The “boys” give a lot of them and get a lot of them. They also get told off a lot by virtually everybody at least once, even Mark LeClark. At first I really wasn’t feeling this movie, as the growth we thought we saw in the brothers at the end of the first movie seemed to be more of a one step forward but two steps back situation. A lot of it was a rehashing, but the script was funny. Not really in a laugh-out-loud way but with clever lines and terrific visual comedy. So, well written (by Kimberley Sustad and Paul Campbell) and directed. Cute cameo appearance by Ms Sustad, btw. The obligatory heartwarming scenes were there of course, but I could have done with one or two less of those. No complaints about the acting of the three co-leads or the supporting characters, even the kids. Everyone was great, but Paul Campbell was a stand out as always. The true meaning of Christmas was learned once again. I hope we don’t have to learn it a third time because there just might be a third movie next year as the door was left open just a crack. Can we see some real steps forward with no backward ones? Can they be men and not boys? And can we keep Taylor’s girlfriend next time around? (If there is a next time.)